Santa Clarita

A 72-year-old man was struck and killed while crossing a street in Santa Clarita on Wednesday, authorities said. Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department say the man was crossing Wiley Canyon Road east of Orchard Village Road shortly after 6 p.m. when he was hit by a minivan. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity was not immediately released. Authorities said they did not believe alcohol played a factor in the incident and the driver of the minivan was not arrested.

NBC's new comedy "About A Boy" rose week-to-week in the ratings, even with a diminished showing from its big lead-in, "The Voice. " According to early numbers from Nielsen, "About A Boy" earned a rating of 1.9 among key 18-to-49-year-old viewers, up 6% from the last episode, marking the second week in a row that the show has grown. Singing contest "The Voice," Tuesday night's highest-rated show, fell 10% to a 2.7, its lowest ever, not counting specials. "Growing Up Fisher" was flat at a 1.5. NBC was the top network, turning in an average of 1.8 in the 18-49 demographic, where a ratings point equals about 1.3 million viewers. PHOTOS: Behind the scenes of movies and TV CBS showed only reruns but was still the most-watched network, averaging 9.4 million viewers, versus NBC's 7.3 million. On ABC, "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

A brush fire that burned 90 acres Friday evening in Santa Clarita has been fully contained, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The fire, dubbed the Bee fire, was first spotted shortly after 5 p.m. in the 35700 block of San Francisquito Canyon Road. Television footage showed one structure in flames, and firefighters used water drops to protect other buildings. Authorities could not confirm late Friday how many structures may have been damaged or destroyed. The fire briefly burned close to power lines, said Cheryl Sims, a supervising dispatcher with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Clint Eastwood's latest movie, "American Sniper," kicked off with a bang in Los Angeles County this week. The Warner Bros. film, which stars Bradley Cooper as a Navy SEAL who recounts his military exploits, began 10 days of filming Monday in an Afghan village set at the Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in the Santa Clarita area. The scenes involved "simulated warfare sequences with full load automatic gunfire, explosions, squibs, bullet hits, smoke, burning debris," according to a county film permit.

A propane tank caught fire near an apartment complex in Santa Clarita early Monday morning, spreading to the building and displacing at least two families, authorities said. The blaze started about 2:45 a.m. in the bottom floor of the three-story apartment complex in the 27000 block of Claudette Street, said L.A. County Fire Deputy Supervisor Robert Diaz. Emergency crews arrived to find the flames had risen to the second and third floors and threatened to engulf the entire building.

Santa Clarita city officials are hoping residents might forgo the chips and soda next time they buy from a vending machine and opt instead for something a little more edifying: a piece of art. On Thursday at the Art Walk in downtown Newhall, the city debuted its new Art2Go vending machine in an effort to whet the public's appetite for culture. Deposit $10 and the machine dispenses a miniature piece of original art, such as oil paintings, watercolors and tile work. "The idea is to get people to start appreciating art," said Jeff Barber, Santa Clarita's arts and events supervisor.

Earlier this month, Santa Clarita settled a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit, and in doing so became the first city in California to embrace innovative election rules that could point the way to a more representative politics. The lawsuit, filed last year, grew out of major demographic changes in the city. Not only had Santa Clarita grown by more than 60% since 1990; it had also seen a sharp increase in the city's non-white population, which went from 31% to 44% over a 10-year period, with Latinos now making up almost a third of the city.

A man was reportedly slain Thursday night in a deputy-involved shooting in Santa Clarita, according to authorities and media reports. The shooting was reported shortly before 8:30 p.m. on Soledad Canyon Road near Sierra Highway, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. The department said homicide detectives were responding. No deputies were wounded. HOMICIDE REPORT: A story for every victim The suspect was fatally shot, according to KTLA-TV Channel 5 . News footage on KCAL Channel 9 showed a body lying near the road as investigators examined the scene.

Officials are warning Santa Clarita residents of at least one aggressive coyote in the area that chased a jogger and killed a dog. The coyote killed the dog Tuesday in Valencia Summit Park. A 6-year-old girl and her mother were walking the small terrier on a leash when a coyote dragged the dog into the bushes, KTLA-TV reported . In the same neighborhood Friday, a jogger reported a coyote chasing her until a man walking two large dogs scared the coyote away, according to KTLA-TV . Signs have been posted around the park that read: “Warning!

Betty the gibbon and her mate, U Maung U Maung, were making the most of the space they had. A few awed visitors looked on Sunday as the active and agile apes swung rapidly from the branches in their enclosure and the chain-link fence that surrounded them. The two small singing apes are among the 39 animals housed according to family in enclosures about the size of a two-story living room at the Gibbon Conservation Center in Santa Clarita. When the center's founder, Alan Mootnick, moved to the 10-acre piece of rural land in 1980, he planned to stay only two years.

Nick Offerman, who plays surly, meat-lovin' Ron Swanson on NBC's "Parks and Recreation," was at the helm of Thursday's big reveal episode, directing Amy Poehler as she delivered that squeal-worthy "Well, buddy, ... " line. It's the second episode the man with impeccable upper lip hair has directed. And -- spoiler alert -- it was quite the one to take on, as it sees Leslie Knope faced with another major milestone in her life: motherhood. We spoke with Offerman, who is currently in New York, where he's appearing in the off-Broadway production of "Annapurna" with his wife, Megan Mullaly, and asked about his reaction to the big plot twist, geeking out over guest star Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and his thoughts on former costar Rob Lowe's tough life as a handsome man. BEST TV OF 2013 Lloyd | McNamara ------------------------------------- I'm mad at myself because I come into this interview having not had breakfast this morning.

Earlier this month, Santa Clarita settled a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit, and in doing so became the first city in California to embrace innovative election rules that could point the way to a more representative politics. The lawsuit, filed last year, grew out of major demographic changes in the city. Not only had Santa Clarita grown by more than 60% since 1990; it had also seen a sharp increase in the city's non-white population, which went from 31% to 44% over a 10-year period, with Latinos now making up almost a third of the city.

A 54-year-old dirt bike rider whose disappearance in the Santa Clarita Valley prompted a multiagency search early Wednesday has been found safe at his home, authorities said. Antonio Marquez was reported missing around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Santa Clarita police Sgt. Jeff Curran told KTLA-TV. He apparently returned home after crashing his dirt bike, according to a tweet Wednesday morning from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Santa Clarita Valley Station.

Search and rescue crews are trying to locate a 54-year-old dirt bike rider who went missing overnight in Santa Clarita after calling family members to say he was traversing "treacherous trails," authorities said. Antonio Marquez was reported missing around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Santa Clarita police Sgt. Jeff Curran told KTLA-TV . His family said they hadn't heard from him since 6:30 p.m., according to authorities. “He did have a cell phone, that was the last contact he had with the family,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Dubin.

An 18-year-old man was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver early Saturday as he tried to run across the 5 Freeway in Sunland after surviving a multivehicle crash, officials said. The incident occurred at 4:20 a.m. in the freeway's northbound lanes north of Tuxford Street, authorities said. The man was a passenger in a 2000 Honda Accord coupe that collided with a big rig, said Officer Monica Posada of the California Highway Patrol. The car came to a stop, blocking the two left lanes.

A man has been banned from the Glendale Galleria for three years after being arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure inside a department store, police said. Keane Dean, 25, of Santa Clarita was banned from the mall after his Feb. 28 arrest at Macy's for allegedly inappropriately touching himself, said Glendale police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot. Prosecutors this week charged Dean with indecent exposure, vandalism and burglary, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records.

The Santa Clarita farmers market offers experienced management, a good mix of quality local growers, and plenty of parking. It took some time after its establishment in 1993 to catch on, but the numbers of shoppers and vendors have steadily increased, and it's really flourishing now. Dried fruits and nuts are available all year, but now is their time to star. The oddly named Fat Uncle Farms, which just started selling at local markets in April, has extraordinarily tasty almonds from Wasco, northwest of Bakersfield.

A group of friends gathered in Roman Weiser's Newhall garage one September day in 2005. They had with them crushed grapes from Paso Robles, compressed in an oak barrel. They added yeast. And then they waited, periodically monitoring the barrel's contents, straining it of pulp and sediment. A year later, the friends - most of them amateur vintners - had produced a barrel of wine. "Our hopes were not really to create outstanding wine," said Weiser, 51, a graphic designer in the advertising industry.

The Amgen Tour of California, an eight-stage professional cycling race that covers more than 730 miles, will feature three stages that begin and end in the Southland, including one from Santa Clarita to the Mountain High ski resort in Wrightwood, race organizers announced Thursday. The ninth annual event begins May 11 in Sacramento and ends May 18 in Thousand Oaks. Riders from 16 domestic and international men's teams will compete in a race that will include 40,000 feet of climbs.

Gusty winds that caused minor damage across the Southland overnight are expected to continue Thursday with the potential to hit 50 mph in some areas. Strong winds felled trees and downed power lines overnight Wednesday, leaving some 2,000 people in the San Fernando Valley without electricity, KTLA reported . In Reseda, strong gusts uprooted a large pine tree, which partially crushed a parked car when it fell. No injuries were reported. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for mountain areas extending from Santa Barbara to the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, and over to the Hollywood Hills and on to Malibu.